Through all her duties, what a heart was thine;
In thy cold dust what spirit used to shine!
Fancy, and truth, and gaiety, and zeal,
What most we love in life, and, losing, feel;
Age after age may not one artist yield
Equal to thee, in Painting’s ample field;
And ne’er shall sorrowing Earth to Heaven commend
A fonder parent, or a firmer friend.
William Hayley, 1789.
From hence I strolled into the vestry, where I found a table of fees, drawn with a degree of precision which merits imitation. It appears, that the fees for MARRIAGES with a licence are 10s. 6d., and by banns 5s. That those for BURIALS, to the minister, if the prayers are said in the church, are 5s.; if only at the grave, 2s. 6d. The graves are six feet deep; and, in the church, the coffin must be of lead. The clerk is entitled to half, and the sexton to about a third more. A vault in the church is charged 21l., and in the church-yard 10l. 10s.; with 5l. 5s. and 2l.2s. respectively for each time of opening. To non-residents they are double.—I had scarcely finished this extract, when the clerk’s or sexton’s assistant made his appearance; and on the south side of the church-yard he brought me to the tomb of Gainsborough.